NOVEL NEXT Chapter 177: When The Anomaly Arrives!
Bruce watched as Ash lifted into the air with a single powerful flap of its gigantic wings.
The impact was immediate.
A violent surge of wind exploded outward, kicking up dust and debris as nearby banners snapped taut and loose rubble skidded across the ground. The sudden pressure sent Bruce's hair whipping back sharply, his coat snapping against his frame.
Ash rose effortlessly.
One moment it was there.
The next, it was already climbing, its massive form cutting cleanly through the sky as if gravity itself had loosened its grip.
Bruce's gaze lingered for only a second.
Then he turned away.
Ash shot upward before plunging down like a meteor, its massive body twisting mid-air as gravity dragged it toward a dense cluster of mutant wolves pushing relentlessly against the Awakeneds' defensive line.
PAH!
The impact was catastrophic.
Ash's claw swept through the cluster in a single, brutal arc. The beasts burst like balloons upon contact, flesh rupturing, bones shattering, blood exploding outward in a violent crimson spray as the entire group was erased by nothing more than overwhelming physical force.
For half a second, the surrounding adventurers froze.
Then they swallowed hard.
"…Thank fuck it's on our side," someone muttered hoarsely.
Ash didn't slow down.
It flowed seamlessly into the fray, tail whipping with terrifying momentum, claws tearing through bodies, its maw snapping shut around beasts with effortless precision. Every movement was clean. Efficient. Overwhelming. With each strike, the pressure on the Awakeneds lessened as Ash steadily forced its way forward, carving a brutal path toward the dungeon portal the beasts were pouring out from, directly reinforcing the S-Ranked Awakeneds holding the line closest to the breach.
Bruce watched for only a moment before his gaze shifted forward.
Toward the true source of the outbreak.
He let out a soft sigh.
There was no time to stay.
This battlefield no longer needed him, from what he sees so far the current adventurers should be able to handle this.
Still, before moving out to deal with the second dungeon, Bruce decided to leave them one final gift.
Boom!
His SS-Ranked aura erupted outward.
It spread wide and fast, an invisible pressure wave surging across the battlefield like a silent tidal wave. Everyone felt it, the Awakeneds and the beasts alike.
'This is… S-Ranked Suppression…'
Under normal circumstances, it was nearly impossible to distinguish between S-Ranked, SS-Ranked, or even SSS-Ranked aura. All three shared the same fundamental trait, absolute suppression over weaker existence levels, so they were collectively categorized under the same term.
But this.
This was different.
Bruce's aura wasn't fully directed at the Awakeneds. They felt only a fraction of its weight, just enough pressure to remind them of its presence without causing harm.
For the beasts, however, it was an entirely different story.
Each and everyone of the beasts all froze!
Their bodies locked up as if shackled by invisible chains. Instinct screamed danger so absolute they didn't even dare breathe. Under the crushing weight of Bruce's killing intent, their wills were smothered completely, as though an apex predator had descended upon the battlefield, one whose mere existence decided life and death.
The Awakeneds didn't miss the opening.
Blades moved.
Skills detonated.
Frozen beasts were slaughtered with ruthless efficiency, cut down before they could even react.
Even the S-Ranked Awakeneds closest to the dungeon portal felt it. The beasts they had been struggling against moments earlier stiffened, movements turning sluggish as raw fear flooded their eyes.
Their expressions darkened.
'This aura…'
'For even an S-Ranked beast to be reduced to this state…'
'It has to be someone above S-Ranked.'
Their gazes shifted instinctively through the chaos, locking onto the distant figure standing calmly at the center of it all, the source of the suppression.
Bruce.
Shock flickered across their faces.
"Impossible…" one of them murmured. "That kid is SS…"
The thought died there.
None of them dared to finish it.
Because if he wasn't SS,
Then the only remaining possibility was something they didn't dare to believe. SSS. They refused to even think it. It was just too shocking!
Elsewhere on the battlefield, a cute, petite-looking girl unleashed invisible gravity beams with practiced precision, crushing multiple beasts mid-charge as their bodies imploded under immense force.
An image surfaced unbidden in her mind, of a man silhouette arriving atop a gigantic dragon.
Recalling that moment, Aria frowned slightly.
"…Is that Bruce?"
She hadn't seen him clearly earlier. Her attention had been fully consumed by the beasts surrounding her, and Ash's massive form had half-obstructed her view at the time.
It couldn't be helped that she hadn't recognized him.
She shook her head lightly.
"Sigh… I don't think it's him," she muttered. "A newly awakened wouldn't have a mutant pet of that caliber."
Her eyes flicked toward Ash's massive form as it tore through the battlefield.
"That beast is too big to be a drake or a wyvern…"
Her breath hitched.
"…Could it be a dragon?"
Her heart trembled at the thought.
....
Meanwhile, Bruce didn't stay.
The moment his aura finished its work, his figure blurred and the air screamed in protest. In the next instant, he vanished from the battlefield entirely, leaving behind cracked ground and stunned Awakeneds as he surged toward the second dungeon with insane speed.
Mana wrapped tightly around his body, compressing space with every step, the world itself warping to accommodate his movement. Buildings flashed past in streaks of color, streets collapsing into lines beneath his feet as distance lost all meaning.
Then he arrived, and the scene changed.
The second dungeon portal loomed ahead, its spatial distortion far more violent than the first.
The air around it twisted unnaturally, mana leaking out in jagged, unstable pulses that tore at the senses. From within, beasts poured forth in an unending stream, gigantic praying mantis mutants, their towering bodies standing two to three meters tall.
Their exoskeletons gleamed in unnatural hues of emerald green, ash, deep crimson, and midnight violet, while their bladed forelegs were thick and serrated, each swing more than capable of cleaving through steel.
Holding the line against them stood a single man.